Metro gives more than 100 of its employees take-home cars, but this year one employee was fired for repeatedly taking home an agency-owned vehicle. A technician whose job was to make sure Metro’s automatic parking lots properly collect fees was busted for driving an agency service vehicle to his home during his work hours — then staying there, according to a Metro inspector general report.
The man, whose name was not released, entered fake activities and locations into Metro’s work assignment database to make it look like he was working at spots around the system, the inspector general found.
The scam lasted for a “period of years,” the report said.
The technician was fired for the violations in April, according to the agency. He had been with the agency for just over 12 years, said Metro spokesman Dan Stessel.
Inspector General Helen Lew did not return a call for comment Thursday, so additional details about the fraud were not immediately available.
The agency has a pool of at least 131 vehicles that can be taken home — 117 people are even expected to drive vehicles home as part of their jobs. Five top executives have vehicles assigned to them, as well, and nine additional vehicles are available in a pool for employees as needed.
But in this case, Stessel said the vehicle the technician used was not part of the take-home program. Instead, it was part of separate pool of service vehicles.
This wasn’t the first time Metro has run into trouble with employees taking things home without permission.
Last year, more than 70 pieces of Metro equipment, including a 32-inch computer monitor, camera equipment and a portable generator, were found in the home of a Metro supervisor.
Metro says it has tightened up its oversight of workers since this latest case. The transit agency now requires technicians to be present at daily inspections made by shift supervisors, and has also implemented unscheduled spot checks, Stessel said.
They require technicians to electronically clock in and out of work locations, as well, he said.
